The present invention relates to gaming devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to gaming device displays, such as the top or bottom glass above and below, respectively, the reels of a slot machine.
Gaming device manufacturers provide gaming machines such as slot machines employing a plurality of reels which each have a plurality of symbols. In these gaming machines, the player spins the reels, which produce a random generation of a combination of symbols. If the generated combination or a portion of the combination matches one of a number of predetermined award producing or winning combinations, the player receives an award. The award is commonly one or more credits that the player can play or redeem for money.
Gaming device manufacturers also provide video poker games that generate credits for the player. The player can either use the awarded credits to play more poker hands or redeem the credits for money. These examples as well as many other types of gaming machines award credits to the player.
To increase player enjoyment and excitement, and to increase the popularity of the gaming machines, gaming device manufacturers constantly strive to make their gaming devices as fun, exciting and attractive as possible. Certain manufacturers go to great lengths in creating artwork that provides a distinct look and feel to each gaming machine and that also conveys a theme for the machine. When a player is deciding which machine to play, the player may pick the one that “looks” like the most fun or looks the most attractive.
Gaming device artwork has historically has been made using conventional silk-screening, which as discussed herein, is limited by the amount of colors available and the complexity of the design. With these limitations in mind, a silkscreen process begins with the designer who creates a design using a computer. A raster image processor (“RIP device”) is used to convert the computer digital images to a raster image, which is the form needed for the next step in the process. Using an image setting service, such as an Agfa Film Imagesetter, the rasterized image is transferred to a large piece of film.
The image setting device outputs the image onto the film as rows upon rows of dots which are mathematically spaced apart. With conventional silk-screening, every color requires a separate film negative or positive (known as a plate) output from the image setting device. The plates are each exposed to ultraviolet light using a time and labor intensive process of temporarily adhering these negatives or positives to a stretched screen material. The stretched screen material has on one side a layer of emulsion. The ultraviolet light is applied for a predetermined time to the film and screen material, exposing the image of the film onto the screen material. The rows of dots produced by the image setter block the ultraviolet light from exposing the emulsion of the screen material that lies directly behind the dots.
After exposing the emulsion layer of the selected areas of the screen material, the exposed screen material is washed to remove the remaining areas of emulsion. The washed screens are then taken to a printing station and used to apply ink to the display glass, which is mounted in the cabinet of the gaming device in a conventional manner. A separate film and a separate screen are therefore required for each color the designer uses. The screens are sequentially placed over the glass, wherein an ink of a desired color is wiped over the screen and onto the glass. After each ink application, the glass is cured. This process is repeated until each color is applied. Typically, a white plate is applied last over the other colors to make them appear more opaque and vibrant.
With gaming device displays becoming more complex, requiring more colors, traditional silk-screening has proven to be too time consuming and labor intensive to remain a viable option. While producing a high quality display, traditional silk-screening cannot meet increasing demand and decreasing lead times.
To overcome the deficiencies of conventional silk-screening, manufacturers have explored the use of digital printers. One digital printer used by the assignee of the present invention is a Durst Lambda™ printer. The digital printer eliminates many of the processing steps required in conventional silk-screening. With the digital printer, the designer still creates a computer image, which is rasterized and placed in the proper form for the digital printer. Instead of outputting a separate film for each color, however, the digital printer outputs a single piece of film, containing all of the colors and art that make up a design. The film can be a transparent or translucent film, such as DuraClear, DuraTrans or Day/Night. The digital printer images the design onto the film using lasers, wherein the laser exposed media is developed using traditional film processing, such as a known RA-4 process.
However, digital printing has certain limitations. All known digital printers, including the Durst Lambda™ printer, print a continuous tone rather than creating rows upon rows of mathematically spaced apart dots produced during conventional screen printing. In certain instances, as discussed below, it is desirable to have the dots instead of a continuous layer. A need exists to overcome this shortcoming of the digital printer with respect to manufacturing displays and particularly glass displays for gaming devices.